BY DAN
KENNEDY
Notes and observations on
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See the World Through My Daughter's Eyes (Rodale, October 2003),
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Monday, October 13, 2003
This week's scandal. It will
be interesting to see how far up this one goes.
The Gannett News Service reports
that newspapers around the country have been receiving identical --
and apparently fake -- letters from US soldiers stationed in Iraq.
The message: the reconstruction is going great, Iraq is returning to
normal, and God bless the USA.
Here's a report
from USA Today.
Thanks to Michael Goldman for
passing along word of this sleazy campaign to demonstrate fake
support for George W. Bush.
It's hard to muster much outrage --
this is too pathetically transparent for that.
Pox on Sox. While you were
watching all hell break loose at Fenway on Saturday, I was huddled
around a radio with about a half-dozen other fathers at a Boy Scout
camping trip. The signal kept fading in and out. So you know more
than I do.
What strikes me, though are two
things:
- The "Cowboy Up" crapola aside,
this is a distinctly unlovable team. Yes, of course I'm glad the
Sox are doing well, but these are not the Sox of '67, '75, or '86.
There are too many crybabies and bullies.
- Pedro Martinez seems to be one
of those athletes whose very intensity makes him a far better
teammate when he's doing well than when he's not. He just can't
stop the frustration from boiling over when things are going
against him. He's got to grow up, especially as he looks at the
future. He may have some good years ahead of him, but his days as
the dominant pitcher in baseball are almost certainly
over.
There's been a lot of smart
commentary in both dailies. One of my favorites was Michael
Gee's column (sub. req.) in
Sunday's Herald. His conclusion:
Winning is always the best
PR. Ask Gov. Schwarzenegger. But the Sox didn't win. In the
process of losing, they struck millions of neutral observers as
childish boors.
Way to go, Pedro. That's quite
an accomplishment, making the Yankees America's sentimental
favorite.
Let judges judge. Today's
Globe has a
must-read column by Judge
Mark Coven on the folly of mandatory minimum sentences for drunk
drivers.
Coven's unassailable logic could be
extended to mandatory sentences in general.
posted at 11:54 AM |
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Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
